


toothpaste kisses and late night drinks.

by darlingjongin



Category: Taynew
Genre: Angst, Comedy, Domestic, Eventual Smut, Fake Marriage, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Marriage, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-14
Updated: 2020-09-13
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:53:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 16,065
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25271959
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darlingjongin/pseuds/darlingjongin
Summary: Two friends decide to scam their parents by marrying each other to inherit their savings. One stayed for money, whilst the other stayed for love.
Relationships: New Thitipoom Techaapaikhun/Tay Tawan Vihokratana
Comments: 45
Kudos: 228





	1. Prologue; a brief history

**Author's Note:**

> I'm new to the fandom, so pls don't kill me if this is bad.

**Title:** _toothpaste kisses and late-night drinks._

 **Summary:** _Two friends decide to scam their parents by marrying each other to inherit their savings. One stays for money, whilst the other stays for love._

 **Pairing:** _Tay-New_

**Tags:** _fake marriage, domestic, mentions o_ _f offnew, comedy, fluff, angst_

_‘Ah’_

_‘Faster!’_

_‘Harder!’_

_‘Don’t stop!’_

‘They’re honestly overdoing it’, Off rolled his eyes as he poured himself a drink, whispering to himself. He looked up to watch Tay’s parents with round eyes and shocked faces.

‘Mr and Mrs Vihokratana’, Off sighed, raising his voice when they heard something banging against the wall, ‘I’m afraid Tay won’t be able to join us here-’

‘Ah!’

Off closed his eyes in embarrassment, pinching the bridge of his nose for a moment as soon as he heard his best friend moaning from the other room as he dealt with his parents, ‘I think you need to go’, he said as he stood up and ushered them off.

‘Whose Tay’s fiancé, we need to know’, Off heard Tay’s dad called out to him, but Off just shook his head, mumbles of ‘I don’t know’ and ‘I’ll ask him’ escaped his mouth before he slammed the door.

‘Are they gone?’, Off heard his best friend walk out of his room. He simply ignored him as he goes back to the living room, grabbing his half-empty drink and walking towards the hallway. He saw where Tay was, leaning on the doorframe with his clothes fully on and a goofy grin on his face.

‘You bastard’, Off hissed at him as he threw the remaining drink on his best friend’s face, ‘I never wanna do that for you ever again’, he pushed him back inside the room, looking inside to see New Thitipoom laying on the bed, laughing with his clothes on too, ‘This is both your fault’, Off had always thought New was innocent amongst their group, but ever since he started getting closer to Tay, he’d started to grow worse, louder and absolutely wild.

‘We promised five percent each!’, New shouted before Off slammed the door shut behind him.

Tay turned around to smile at New, clapping his hands as he jumped into the bed, high-fiving him.

‘I think we got it in the bag!’

* * *

**Prologue; A Brief History of Friendships and Unrequited Love.**

We should probably start from the beginning. Tay and New were friends. But they're not attracted to each other. However, they were both the youngest of their family and got the short end of the stick since they were born. Tay was the youngest of three, which wasn’t so bad if it wasn’t for the fact that his two older siblings already inherited both his parents’ companies. It goes to show that Tay was totally unplanned – which he bitched about every chance he got – being given hand-me-downs, small shares from his parents’ side businesses and partnerships. He grew up like a poor boy despite living in a five-story mansion.

New, on the other hand, was the youngest of two. The problem was, his older brother was ten years older and already the CEO of the N&N Industry whilst he just graduated, which means, he had to actually get a job afterwards – which he didn’t want to do.

Despite their rich background, their families didn’t mingle with each other and it wasn’t until college that they met – in a small restaurant downtown.

Off Jumpol was their middle man. He was a working-class boy who scored a scholarship at one of the top colleges in the country. With his background, he should’ve been the number target for harassment from all the rich kids, but luckily Off was the one who pulled Tay out of the pond whilst he was riding his bike to his first lecture. Tay said his wheels tripped over a rock, but Off just said he was stupid. Ever since then, they were inseparable, and thank god Tay was rich enough to be Off’s human shield.

And New Thitipoom? He was too shy to make friends. His first couple of weeks of college can be summarised as pure fucking hell. He drank alcohol in an attempt to fit in with the cool kids, but throwing up on someone’s leather sofa didn’t earn him any brownie points. He also tried joining a few clubs – like swimming and diving – but New was scared of heights so that was a waste of his and everyone’s time.

Thank god he was partnered with Off for their Business and Management presentation.

‘Where are we?’, New remembered scoffing as soon as he entered the small restaurant. He had to walk down a flight of stairs just to see the restaurant buried underground. The walls were bricked and barren; the owners never bothered to paint over it and the food was served in mismatched plates.

‘Want one?’, Off offered a drink in a plastic bag tied with a straw poking out of the opening.

‘No thanks’, New faked a smile, putting his backpack down on his lap, too paranoid that he was going to stain his custom-made leather bag. He never should’ve agreed to meet at such a dodgy place downtown, ‘So, what have you got so far?’, he asked Off, looking down at the table and still seeing leftover food and pieces of crumbs scattered all over. He scrunched his nose in disgust and grabbed a handkerchief from inside his pockets, wiping the food off the table.

He listened to Off talk and he realised just how smart the boy was, focused shown across his face as he flipped through the pages of their textbook. New caught himself looking a little too long and he didn’t realise another person had joined them until he heard a hand knocking on the table.

‘Tay’, Off looked up and smiled, ‘Oh, New, so you mind if my friend joins in?’, his handsome partner called out to him. New looked up for the first time, wondering who this friend was. He was tall, a little tanned and his hair was parted up in the middle, ‘For what its worth, he’s a rich ass like you’, Off snickered, earning a hit from Tay.

‘Yeah, sure’, New nodded, looking up to smile at Off’s friend. He only nodded back at him as he dropped his bag on the floor and sat down next to him, blocking his view of his partner.

‘Have you ordered? I’m starving’, Tay whined, nudging Off’s shoulders for attention even though he was busy writing notes on his book.

‘Yeah’, Off simply nodded, ‘Sit down and wait, you impatient fucker’, he chuckled, watching his friend shake his leg and look at his watch, ‘What time did you finish class anyway?’

‘About an hour ago’, Tay replied, ‘Who’s this kid anyway?’

‘I’m in the same year as you’, New pointed out sharply. He didn’t like Tay at first, the way he slouched his back and stretched his leg out as if he owned the place.

‘Really?’, Tay raised his brow, ‘I don’t recognise you’

‘He’s in Business and Administration. You’re in Economics’, Off replied on New’s behalf, laughing at his friend who only rolled his eyes and poured himself a drink.

‘Shit!’, Tay screamed the moment he moved his elbow, spilling the cup before he could finish filling his drink, splashing water everywhere.

‘For fuck’s sake’, Off shouted, trying to save his textbooks as he stood up.

‘Shit’, New cursed as he grabbed onto the glass cup before it toppled over and smash on the floor.

‘Can you be careful for once in your life?’, Off sighed, looking at the drenched table, ‘Sorry Mrs Pho’, he called out before the owner can walk in and scold them for the mess, ‘I’ll clean it up’

New looked down on his bag which had fallen to the floor as soon as he stood up. It was drenched, water tricking inside and probably damping his books and he looked up to glare at the boy who caused all this mess, but all he saw was a goofy grin before a fit of laugher erupted from him.

He was about to scream at him, asking what he thought was funny, but his laughter was joined by someone else. Off slowly followed, rolling his eyes and kicking Tay playfully as they waited for someone to clean up the table. New felt a little out of place feeling angry, especially when the two boys were laughing in front of him. He realised that this was the first time he felt that he has a chance of joining in a crowd since the start of college, and he didn’t want to waste that chance.

New slowly smiled, forgetting about his bag and joining in their laugher.

‘So he does smile’, Tay pointed out as soon as he noticed New’s grin, ‘Oh… And he’s much taller than I thought’, he commented, making Off laugh at his surprised expression.

‘And I go to the gym’, New pointed out, ‘So I can punch your face if you call me a kid again’

‘Duly Noted’, Tay playfully winked at him.

And that was that. The three friends who met in college during their first year of college.

Of course, the group grew over the coming years. It started with Arm, a Theatre Costume Design who helped a drunk Tay out of the bar before he started a fight with a total stranger. New rushed into the hospital, heaving as he ran from his dorm room, looking around for Tay when he found Off and Arm sleeping side by side, resting on each other’s shoulders as they waited in the waiting room. Tay definitely owed Arm a drink for saving his ass, and the multiple trips down the bar became a routine for the four of them.

* * *

‘Don’t smoke’, New grabbed the cigarette from Off’s lips before the boy could light it up.

‘Come on’, Off whined, sitting down on the stairs at the front of the college entrance with New. They had a routine of waiting for Tay and Arm to arrive from their lectures from the other campus, which left New and Off alone for approximately twenty-three minutes. And he wouldn’t have it any other way.

‘How was your family dinner?’, Off asked, knowing that New would only groan in response, leaning his head on his shoulders, the afternoon sun blazing under them.

‘My brother’s being an absolute tool’, New whined, ‘He just hired his girlfriend as the COO of the company! Wasn’t he supposed to save that position to me?!’

‘Why don’t you work in a different company? Why work in the family business?’

‘So, I could avoid job interviews and start from the bottom’, New turned his head to grin at Off, ‘If I have the opportunity to avoid the inevitable, then I will’

‘Lucky bastard’, Off chuckled, but he still felt slightly bitter over his friends who already had jobs and a bright future waiting for them, ‘I’m sure your brother’s got a position for you once you graduated’

New felt lucky that Off wasn’t the type to push him away when he leaned his head on his shoulders. He used to. He hated physical contact and even an arm around him would make him flinch, but New felt special for being one of the few who broke Off.

And no, New doesn’t have a crush on Off, thank you very fucking much. He didn’t fall for the first person who treated him nicely during the first year of college. And no, he did not keep falling whenever Off took care of him every drunk night outs, late-night studies when the older wouldn’t forget to order another cup of coffee just for him. New Thitipoom wasn’t stupid and naïve to do that. Not one bit.

Off heard his phone ding and he took it from his pockets, reading the notification with a smile on his face.

‘Who’s that?’, New asked, lifting his head as Off started typing.

‘Some kid called Gun’, Off explained, ‘He’s from a year below us’

‘Why’re you hanging out with someone from the year below?’

‘I signed up for a part-time’, Off chuckled, ‘I can’t just live in this part of town without a job’

‘What job is it?’

‘Tutoring’, the taller explained and New smiled when he started to talk about the boy who was called Gun. He didn’t worry too much, all Off ever did was complain about how loud and mischievous the boy was. Off never usually got along with anyone if he found they irritating.

‘Hey!’, they heard Tay and Arm calling out to them and they both stood up, grabbing their bags and racing towards them.

‘Took you long enough!’, Off shouted back at them, patting Tay on the back as they walked back to the road where the market was. New squeezed himself between Tay and Off and the former definitely noticed, raising his brow as he watched the way New talked to Off as if he hadn’t seen him in months when they were just waiting together. Tay couldn’t help but snicker, but he kept but mouth shut and bit his lip. He wasn’t a shit-stirrer and if his suspicions were right, calling it out would cause huge ripples in their groups that he wasn’t prepared to fix.

* * *

‘Hey, you must be New’

‘Yeah. Who are you?’

‘My name’s Gun’

Eye roll. That was New’s instinct as the short kid introduced himself, all smiles and wearing an oversized hoodie. Today was the weekend and they were supposed to hang out at Off apartment for the night, so he didn’t know why Gun would tag along, but more importantly, he didn’t know Off would let him.

‘Be nice’, Tay whispered to him as he walked pass from the kitchen, holding a beer in his hand as he sat down on one of the beanbag chairs. Tay kept his mischievous grin on as he watched the way New awkwardly sat on the sofa where Off and Gun were sitting. Usually, Off and New would choose to sit on the sofa whilst the rest sat on the floor, but in this case, it seemed like someone else joined them.

New was freaking out, but Tay was having the time of his fucking life, watching from the corner of his eyes has the former tried to get a word in between Gun and Off.

‘Hey, I’ve got tickets on the play that I’m working on’

‘On the costumes?’, Tay added to which Arm nodded, excited as fuck to be inviting all his friends so he could show off all the hard work he’s done over the past couple of months. He’s always hated the fact that he was the only one out of all his friends that took an art course.

‘Sign me up’, Off nodded, getting up to grab a beer. The three boys noticed their Junior following him close behind.

‘They’re gonna go out soon’, Arm suddenly whispered once they left the room, closing the door shut behind them, ‘I can feel it’

‘I mean look at the kid. He’s practically head over heals for Off. It won’t be long till Off just gives in’, Tay joined in, drinking his beer and keeping an eye on New who didn’t say anything. The latter just sat still, looking down at his phone and ignoring their conversation – which only made it fun for Tay.

‘I should probably go help him with the beer’, Arm stood up after a couple of minutes, leaving the two to join the boys in the kitchen. Silence took over them – but it never stays as long as Tay Tawan was around.

‘So, are we gonna address the elephant in the room, or are you gonna keep it a secret till we graduate?’, Tay said, breaking the silence as he stared at New.

‘What’re you talking about?’

‘Off Jumpol’, Tay repeated the boy’s name, ‘You think of him as a friend, right?’

‘Of course’

‘More than a friend?’

New chocked on his drink a little, coughing as soon as Tay pointed it out without warning, ‘What the fuck are you talking about?’

‘I’m not blind New’, Tay chuckled, leaning back on the beanbag chair, ‘I know how a person looks like when they’re in love’

‘And how do they look like?’, New bit back, wanting to call out Tay’s bullshit. Of all people to lecture him about anything, the spoilt, clumsy piece of shit that is Tay Tawan would be the last person he would think of.

‘You make all the excuses to spend time with him alone. You lean your head on his shoulders, you listen to every song he listens to. When he watches a movie, you watch it the next day so you can talk about it. You’re excited at the prospect of spending time at his hometown during breaks because you think one day, he might introduce you to his parents. You also love the way he smiles at you and you can’t help but smile back’

Tay’s list was growing longer the more New kept his mouth shut. He wanted to throw the glass cup at the boy, but he clenched it instead, glaring down at Tay.

‘Lies’, is all he could simply respond.

‘Lies?’, Tay stopped once he was interrupted, bursting out in howls of laughter, loud enough to be heard in the next room, ‘Just you wait New. Once Gun and Off start dating, you’re gonna be asking me for help on how to get over him’

‘Why would I ask advice from a clown?’, New bit back, quite harshly, as Tay stopped laughing and glared at New.

They were friends. But they were only friends because they shared the same middle man – which was Off Jumpol. Once the latter was away, sometimes hell would break loose to which New would comment on every little bullshit Tay got himself into and the latter would do the same to him. They didn’t get into serious fights, but the underlying annoyance that they had for each other was evidently there.

‘Just admit it now before you get your heartbroken’, Tay called out to him. New couldn’t tell if he was still joking or if he was being serious now. That was the problem with him, the line between joke and seriousness was thin and sometimes non-existent.

‘I don’t like Off’, New ended the conversation – in perfect timing as well – since the door swung open, welcoming the three boys back, holding a handful of cold beer from the fridge.

* * *

‘You’ve been hanging out with Tay recently’, Off commented when they walked out of their campus, a cigarette resting in between his hands.

‘Yeah’, New nodded. He decided not to add any more details just in case.

_Fuck Tay. And Fuck Off too._

New hated to admit that Tay was right about anything. But when he walked to the halls to look for Off and saw Gun hugging him whilst they walked, it made him freeze, his feet cemented on the ground as his fingers gripped on the straps of his backpack. The rumours were already flying around, but New never believed it. It was so out of Off’s character to give in to someone, let alone someone so… playful.

He remembered picking up his phone and calling the only person he could as he walked away, feeling a heavyweight being pushed down his heart.

‘What’s up, tall kid?’, he heard Tay’s obnoxious voice on the other side and he loathed the fact that he was the only person he could confide in.

‘Can I hang out with you?’

‘Off’s not with me’

‘I know’, New sighed, ‘That’s the point’

‘Oh’, is all he heard on the other side of the phone. Then a restless laugh, ‘Finally time to admit it, eh?’

* * *

‘Since when’

‘First-year college’

‘Damn’, Tay looked at his friend up and down, crossing his arm and watching as New poured himself another drink. He was pale, so when he got drunk it showed in the form of bright red cheeks. Some times New also got red flushes all over his body and Tay once had to help Arm take off his shirt because he was starting to burn up. With Off and Arm’s absence, Tay knew he won’t be able to take care of a drunk New, so he slowly slid the bottle of vodka towards his side of the table and as far away from the boy.

‘I mean, it’s just a crush’, New giggled, his eyes droopy and hands barely able to lift the shot glass, ‘I’m not in love with him or anything… It’s just a stupid… Simple attraction’

‘An attraction that’s lasted for three years already’, Tay raised a brow. Under normal circumstances, he would be laughing at New, teasing him as he slowly got drunk, drowning himself in alcohol until his sight was blurred and voice slurred, stringing words of nonsense.

‘It’s just a crush!’, New shouted, ‘I promise!’

‘Okay, okay’, Tay nodded, trying to calm the boy down, ‘If it’s just a crush, it’ll be easy to get over, okay?’

‘Yeah…’, New nodded, his lower lip pouted as he took another shot, ‘It’ll only take me five minutes to get over him’

Which was why Tay made a deal to replace Off Jumpol. It wasn’t too hard. He studied Economics which meant their campuses were right next to each other. New would text him that his classes were over and he would rush to the campus as soon as possible so New and Off’s twenty-three minutes time alone was decreased to ten.

‘You okay?’, Off would say when he saw Tay panting as he ran up to their campus, ‘Why’re you in a rush?’

‘Just… Wanted… To… Hang out…’, Tay managed to say in between heaving breathes, leaning his arm on New’s shoulder who rolled his eyes at him.

‘Come on, let’s go grab something to eat’, New simply stated, ignoring Off’s questioning brow as they walked to the restaurant and waited for Arm. This was going to be easy, at least, that's what New thought at first. He never truly liked Off, he was just attracted, and attraction fades much quicker than love. Plus, he had the obnoxious, loud and stupid Tay to distract him, which is something he hated, especially when he spent time having to listen to some of Tay's nonsense interests, but at least the idiot did his job when he promised he'd help him get over Off.

One can say Tay and New’s friendship started when Tay spilt his drink at the restaurant downtown when they were in first year, ruining New's bag. But some say, their friendship never truly blossomed until Tay found New crying in the middle of an empty road, walking by himself as he looked down on his phone, a photo of his unrequited love intertwining his hands with someone else. No one really knew the starting point on anything, not even the two boys in question.

_‘Have you ever fallen in love? It’s a weird feeling. It really is. I don’t even know how to explain it. It’s like feeling a breath of fresh air after working all day. It's that kinda feeling you know? Not the feeling of escape from a terrible job, but the feeling of relief that you’ve got something you can go home to that makes your pain worth it. Like you’re not just stuck in traffic or working for a shitty boss so you can make money. It’s about going through all that and knowing you’ve got arms to go back to. It’s basically finding a home in someone’s soul’_

**_\- New Thitipoom Techaapaikhun._ **


	2. one; a stupid idea.

‘You okay?’, Tay asked as he passed a drink to New who sat on the sofa of his dorm, staring at the wall with a blank expression. New didn’t want Tay to stay over his dorm, but when he felt an arm leaning on his shoulders as he walked home solemnly with tears streaming down his face, he couldn’t help but want to keep the warm arms around him. It didn’t make him feel lonely anymore.

‘I’m okay’, New nodded, his answer less enthusiastic as he wanted to display. It made it sound like he was lying, and he probably was. Gun Atthapan was cute, he was loud and funny, mischievous and sweet at the same time, whereas he was quiet and kept to himself. Out of the two, it wasn’t a surprised Off fell for the former rather than him. It wasn’t supposed to be this ground-breaking shock that broke his heart in two. But what really pained him was that it took Gun only three months to make Off fall in love with him, whereas for him, it’s been four years, yet nothing. That was what shattered him the most, that time couldn’t force someone to love him back, even if Off felt comfortable with him. Time never seemed to be on New’s side.

‘I don’t even know what you see in Off’, Tay began, he didn’t need to, but the silence was killing him, mixed with New’s anguished expression, ‘I mean, he’s my best friend, but still… He’s… Too loud’

‘So are you’, New pointed out, ‘You don’t see me judging people who liked you’

‘Look, I’m just trying to make you feel better’, Tay lifted his arm in surrender, ‘But, if you want, we could talk about something else?’

‘Like what?’, New whined, knowing that he didn’t have much in common with Tay despite being in the same friendship group.

‘Well, did your parents force you to go to a business meeting to ‘shadow’ your brother and left you stranded in a hotel once cos they forgot you came?’, Tay pointed out a specific part of his life he laughed about, hoping that New might find his anecdote particularly funny.

Finally. It worked. Tay saw New break out into a smile, even chuckling a little bit as he drunk his cola, ‘Your parents forget you exist too?’

‘I was unplanned’, Tay mentioned – for the millionth time, ‘How about you?’

‘They care more about my brother who’s actually helping them run the company than me’, New nodded, relating immediately to Tay. It seemed like, if they tried hard enough, they might actually have some things in common that they could talk about without mentioning Off Jumpol.

‘You know, there’s a concert happening next week if you wanna come with me’

‘Who’s performing?’

‘Just some indie band’, Tay shrugged, ‘But I heard they’re good. Do you wanna come?’

‘Sure’

* * *

By their last semester, their group had grown with the introduction of Off’s boyfriend and Arm’s girlfriend to the group. New didn’t mind, in fact, if he pretended, he didn’t just waste his entire college life pining over Off, he might actually like Gun. He also didn’t mind Alice, she was sweet and charming, much like Arm they both had a bit of each other in their habits and personalities.

‘What’s gonna happen after you all graduate?’, Gun whined as he rested his head on Off’s lap, the crew spending their night in New’s dorm since it was closer to the library.

‘You’ll just have to make new friends’, New pointed out, pouring himself a glass of cola and avoiding alcohol just in case true feelings bubbled up when his mind was fucked up.

‘Come on, you’ll visit me here, right Newwie?’

‘Don’t call me that’, New replied, making Tay chuckle a little since he was the only one who knew why New acted a little cold when it comes to Gun. He glared at the boy sitting across the room beside Alice and Arm, warning him to keep his mouth shut.

‘Hey, where were you last week by the way?’, Arm asked, ‘We went out for lunch but you and Tay couldn’t be found anywhere’

‘We went lunch somewhere else’, New explained, earning questioning eyes directed at him to which he just shrugged. Ever since Tay helped him, he found himself being ‘indebt’ and Tay, the bastard used it for his advantage. He begged the latter to come with him for a family dinner because he didn’t want to feel lonely when his family starts to talk over him. He used Off as a blackmail, so he had no choice but to go.

‘You met Tay’s family?’, Arm snorted a little, ‘Tay hates introducing his friends to his family’

‘Yeah, well, I’m rich so maybe he didn’t have to worry about his parents judging me’

‘Woah, okay, sorry we’re not rich enough to be Tay’s friends’, Off chuckled as he drank his beer, stroking Gun’s hair in the process – which New didn’t notice – he just saw and moved on.

‘I’m surprised the two of you didn’t know each other earlier on’, Alice pointed out, ‘N&N industries and Viho Corporations are two of the biggest companies in this country. I’m sure both families are dying for an excuse for partnership’

‘My family business works in finance’, Tay commented, ‘New’s family owns mechanical industries. The only good thing that might happen is if one of our family members marry the other and become shareholders of both companies’

‘My brother already has a girlfriend’, New informed the group, even though they probably didn’t care.

‘My sister’s married and my brother definitely wouldn’t like New’, Tay snorted, New scrunched up a piece of paper and threw it at Tay, making everyone laugh when Tay tumbled to the floor at the sudden impact.

‘Why don’t you just marry each other then?’, Gun pointed out, giggling which signalled he was close to his alcohol limit, his cheeks already red too.

‘I’d rather jump outta that window than marry him’, New growled, shaking his head furiously as soon as the idea was brought to their minds. He almost wanted to gag at the thought of it.

‘Ditto’, Tay raised his beer, downing it in one go before turning back to glance at New. He winked at the boy, laughing as he hung his head back, staring at the ceiling whilst their group of friends continued to talk about other things.

* * *

Gun’s idea wasn’t brought back to mind until after graduation.

‘Tay darling, now that you’ve graduated, why don’t we discuss your position in our business’, his father spoke first whilst they had lunch in their mansion. Tay had moved in with Off in a humbled size apartment, which meant he only had room for a few clothes and belongings. He decided to send dozens of boxes over to his parents’ house instead of giving his shit away, which caused his parents to worry that the boy might want to move back in. Tay, being their youngest, they wanted him to leave their nest and maybe even start his own business from the ground up like how they did. Unlike their other children who relied on them to start their lives, they had hoped that their youngest – and quite frankly – their smartest, was going to have the passion and drive to move further away from the family business. But unfortunately, what they didn’t know was that Tay was a lazy motherfucker who didn’t want to lift a finger or do a day of labour for the rest of his life. They had basically raised a spoilt brat.

‘You want me to start my own business?’, Tay dropped his fork and knife as soon as his father announced that he will not have a position in either of their family companies, ‘Why?!’

‘We think you’re capable of making a name for yourself’, his mum reached her hand out and stroked his, a warm smile on her face even though her son was in the middle of a breakdown.

‘Okay…’, Tay thought about it for a minute. He didn’t like the idea of being inferior to his siblings, and if he ended up working in one of the companies, he’d have to take their orders which might be hell for him, so maybe starting his own business won’t be that bad, ‘How much are you giving me?’, he asked. If his parents were loving enough, maybe he might bag himself one hundred or maybe even two-hundred million baht, which was more than enough to start any business he wanted.

‘Uhh… Actually’, his mum looked at his dad with a suspicious look and Tay gripped on his fork when the silence took too long, ‘We thought you’d be brave enough to start your own business without our help’

‘Without…’, Tay stopped talking as he looked down at his half-finished food, digesting his parent’s words before his jaw dropped to the floor and his eyes almost fell out of his sockets, ‘You’re throwing me in the deep end without a lifeline?!’

‘Don’t be insane’, his father laughed, ‘We’ll still be here to help if your business fails. But I think it’ll do you good if you start on your own, you know? To make sure you use those good wits of yours’

‘I don’t have any wits dad’, Tay whined, ‘I’m a dumbass. I can’t survive without your help!’, maybe working for his siblings wasn’t as bad as he thought, because anything is better than basically being thrown out, ‘What did I do wrong? Why’re you stripping me off my inheritance’

‘We’re not. Stop overreacting darling’, his mum rolled his eyes, ‘We just want you to live life to the fullest’

‘You only get to live your life to the fullest if you’re rich’, Tay pointed out, ‘So why are you forcing me to be poor?’

‘Son, just try it. It might help you see the world differently’

‘That’s it. I’m accusing you both of child neglect’

‘You’re twenty-one years old Tay’

‘I’m outta here!’

* * *

New heard a harsh knock on his door. He groaned as he abandoned his boxes of unpacked stuff as he slowly moved into his new apartment. He made his way to the door, opening it to find a fuming Tay on the other side.

‘Woah, did I allow you in?’, he shouted at the boy who pushed past him, walking straight into the kitchen and stealing a bottle of beer. Of course, Tay would know where it was. He was the one who helped him move in a couple of days ago, but it didn’t excuse his behaviour which was starting to get on New’s nerves.

‘I can’t believe it! I’m officially poor!’, Tay shouted at the top of his lungs, chugging down the beer in one go and throwing it on the kitchen tiles whilst getting another one.

‘Do you fucking mind?’, New shouted back at him, ‘I’ve just moved in. Stop trashing my place’

‘They’re really doing this to their younger son?’, Tay muttered to himself, his cheeks flushed red as he sauntered off into the living room, jumping on the sofa, ‘I was the unplanned child! That’s why they have no idea what they wanna do with me!’

‘What now?’, New sighed, sitting on the arm of the sofa, tapping Tay’s leg, ‘What happened during dinner’, he had an inkling of an idea as to why Tay was acting like a child. He only does that when he comes back from a family dinner.

‘They want me to start my own business!’

‘What’s wrong with that?’

‘They’re not going to help me fund it!’, Tay shouted, sitting up on the sofa and glaring at New as if it was his fault, ‘I have to ask a loan from the bank! Then I’ll be indebted if it doesn’t work out!’

‘That’s how businesses work’

‘I don’t wanna be in debt! I’ve seen how Off lives; he only has five shirts!’

New was spoilt himself, but compared to Tay, he was a humbled little saint. He couldn’t help but roll his eyes and push Tay’s legs so he could sit down on the sofa next to him, ‘What’s so hard about staring a business? You’re smart, I’m sure you could think of something, right?’

‘Dumbass, it’s not about that’, Tay kicked his legs, ‘I vowed never to work hard in my life’

‘Come on, what’s the worse that could happen? I’m sure your parents only wants what’s best for you’

* * *

‘You’re giving all your savings to Mek?!’, New dropped his racket on the ground as he shouted at his dad whilst they were in the middle of playing tennis. He couldn’t believe what he just heard and he almost wanted to throw the ball at his father’s head.

‘We had a chat last night’, his father explained as he went to the bench to grab a drink, rubbing the towel on his forehead, ‘He’s planning to propose to Mild’

‘So?’

‘Well, they’re starting a family’, his father pointed out, ‘They need all the help they need’

‘Mek is a CEO and Mild just got promoted to COO!’, New shouted, ‘How many more help do they bloody need?!’

‘Look, a family is a hefty job. And I want them to live a comfortable life’

‘How about me?’, New asked, pointing at himself, his eyes round and slightly pitiful to look at, ‘How about when I start a family?’, all his life he had to watch his brother receive everything whilst he begged for scraps or even an ounce of his parents’ attention on him. He was starting to get pissed and this was clearly the last straw, ‘Can’t you just give half of your savings to him and leave the rest for me? I mean… I don’t even have a job yet!’

‘Ask your brother for one. I’m sure he’ll give you an internship’

‘An internship?!’, New kicked the net in utter frustration, ‘You want me to intern in my own family’s company?!’

‘What? You think we’re just gonna give you a high position after graduation?’, his father laughed at him and New – for a split second – wanted to commit genocide, or set their house on fire. Anything to relieve the frustration that was slowly turning into hatred.

‘You made Mek a CEO as soon as he graduated college’, New reminded him, but his father didn’t listen. Instead, he stretched his arms and beckoned New to end their game of tennis and go back inside as the summer heat burned their skin. Now he knew how Tay felt when he barged into his apartment a week ago. This was what it meant to be the youngest, they were late to the party and they were left with the shit presents.

* * *

‘Tay, I know this is going to sound crazy but… Marry me’

Off spat his drink as he coughed the orange drink that went down the wrong pipe. It was early morning and they were having breakfast in their new apartment when New barged him with no warning, leaning on the wall and stuttering a little when they asked why he was here.

‘Marry you? Why?’

‘If you do, I’ll half my parents’ savings with you’

‘Deal’, Tay agreed immediately, making Off choke for the second time in the span of five minutes.

‘Are we in the matrix? What’s going on?’, Off asked after he managed to collect himself, wiping his lips and looking up at New, then back at Tay with wide eyes.

‘My parents’ are gonna give their entire savings to my brother because he’s gonna marry first’, New explained, with bitterness in his tone and expression, ‘But if I get married first, they have no choice but to give me the savings’

‘You know what, this might work’, Tay clicked his fingers when he thought more into it, ‘My parents will also give me some of their savings _and_ by default, we’ll become shareholders for both companies… With the savings and shares, I’ll have more than enough to start my business without lifting a finger’, Tay smiled as soon as the pieces started to join together perfectly.

‘You rich kids live in a different world’, Off gave up, standing up and taking all the dirty dishes and heading to the kitchen, leaving the two idiots alone to scheme.

* * *

They didn’t want to make their hidden agenda obvious, so Tay and New had to make their relationship believable.

‘You have to give me a hickey’

‘Go fuck yourself’, New squirmed at the thought, watching as Tay tugged his shirt down, leaning down to press his neck against New’s face.

‘We have to make it believable!’

‘Why can’t we just hold hands?’, New whined, pushing Tay off him, ‘I don’t want to give you a hickey’

‘I know my siblings. They’re gonna sniff us out within seconds’, Tay warned him. The latter spent the evening in New’s apartment after they hatched up a plan to introduce each other as their fiancé to each other’s family. However, with their sudden engagement, they needed to make them believe that they’ve been dating since college. It wasn’t too hard as both their families have met the latter once or twice during dinners, but they’ve only talked about the other as friends and nothing more.

This week, Tay wanted to formally introduce New to his siblings, because if he could fool them, the rest will flow easily like water.

‘Come on, I’ll give you one too’

‘Get off me’, New warned the former, kicking his leg, ‘I’m not letting you near my neck’

‘Come on New!’, Tay tugged on his shirt, dragging back to him, ‘This needs to work otherwise they won’t believe us and we’ll lose our chance in bagging those savings’

New bit his lip and scrunched his nose in disgust but he didn’t say anything else. He knew Tay was right. Somehow, holding hands wasn’t going to cut it. They needed more evidence, even if the evidence was a form of a hickey.

‘Right, fine. Close your eyes’, New breathed out, forcibly turning Tay to face him.

‘What? Why?’

‘Because I don’t want you to look’

‘Urgh, fine’, Tay rolled his eyes, leaning his neck in as he closed his eyes.

‘And don’t get turned on, okay?’

‘You fucking wish’, is all Tay said as New dipped his head in, licking the former’s neck before sucking on it, ‘Ow, ow, ow!’, Tay pushed him away when New bit a little too hard on his skin, making it ache, ‘What are you? Have you never given a hickey before?’

‘Who cares’, New shrugged, ‘Your neck’s all purple, so it worked’

‘You!’, Tay shouted, but he breathed in and stopped himself. They didn’t need to turn each other on, so he shouldn’t be pissed. But shit, the bite hurt like a bitch and he couldn’t help but think that New had done it on purpose, ‘Okay, my turn’

‘Ah, why? Isn’t a hickey on you enough?’, New slapped Tay’s hands which had started to rest on his waist.

‘My siblings know I don’t leave my boyfriends unmarked’, Tay smirked a little as he winked at New.

‘What are you? An animal?’

‘Come here’, Tay ignored him as he grabbed New’s neck, pressing his lips against the pale skin.

‘Tay… Hurry up’, New whined a little, squirming when Tay continued to tease him, kissing his neck softly before biting down a little, moving up to his ears where he felt his stomach churn when he starts kissing again, ‘Tay, come on… That’s enough’, he whispered, trying to push Tay off him, but the latter was stronger than him, his hands gripped his wrist tightly as he continued.

Tay finally pulled out – thank god – New breathing heavily as he watched Tay’s smug grin looking at him.

‘That’s how you give a hickey’

‘You’re a dickhead’, New kicked Tay off the sofa, rubbing his neck and looking at the multiple purple bruises on his pale skin through his phone screen, ‘An utter dickhead’

* * *

Muk and Tan stared at New as they waited for their food to arrive. They noticed the purple bruises all over both their necks and they couldn’t help but cough awkwardly as they tried not to look for too long. The restaurant was in a hotel uptown in Bangkok and they were all dressed in their best clothes. Muk, who was the eldest, adjusted her rings as he tucked her hair back and continued to stare at the man Tay was all of a sudden calling his fiancé.

‘I thought New was just your friend?’, Tan called out, putting down his phone and focusing his glare on his brother who looked smug.

‘We didn’t wanna make it official until we were serious, so we didn’t bother telling anyone yet’

‘Hmm’, Muk nodded. Tay’s explanation made sense. She had no care in knowing all of Tay’s boyfriends unless they were going to stick around for more than two weeks and she’d seen the two of them hanging out once in a while when she visited him. But they didn’t give off a rather – loving – relationship, so it was either his brother was a good actor, or these two couldn’t possibly be in a relationship.

‘So, why do you wanna get married now?’, their eldest sister kept on asking the questions, which Tay expected, and he had prepared for them all, so he was ready to swing back.

‘Because we’ve recently graduated and I wanna start a life with him’, Tay replied, ‘I don’t see myself being with anyone else’

 _Smooth._ New thought. If he wasn’t in on the scam, maybe Tay’s words were enough to maybe make him fall for him.

‘And New, why did you say yes to my brother?’, Tan threw a curveball and gazed down at New instead, tapping his fingers on the table.

‘Because I love him’, New bit the inside of his cheeks to stop himself from squirming at such a cheesy line, but they needed to get their point across, ‘I hope you give your approval’

‘Mhhm’, Tan nodded, his eyes still on New, ‘I’ve heard of your family. It wouldn’t be too bad if we partnered with N&N industries’

‘Stop talking about business Tan’, Muk rested her hand on his arm, ‘We’re here to talk about family’

‘Our baby brother can love whoever he wants’, Tan smiled at his sister, ‘I’m actually surprised Tay bagged a pretty good one. I’ve read about their family. They don’t seem shady’

‘Uh, thanks?’, New tilted his head a little, wondering why Tay’s brother would be researching about his family.

‘Well… Marriage is a little too serious and I’m afraid I’m questioning their maturity…’, Muk sighed a little. She didn’t finish her sentence as the waiter finally came in and brought them their food.

‘Muk, think of this as a perfect opportunity for Tay to toughen up. There’s no better torture than marriage’, Tan laughed at his own joke, digging into the meal as he turned to stare at his brother, ‘You have my approval and prayers that you’ll survive a marriage’

‘Thanks, bro’, Tay rolled his eyes but he laughed along with him. Tan had always been carefree, so he knew it was going to be easy to fool him, but he waited for Muk’s reply, holding his breath and hoping they’d done enough to persuade them so they could persuade his parents to allow the wedding.

‘Come on sis’, Tay whined like how he used to when they were kids, pouting his lower lip as he reached out and grabbed his sister’s hand, ‘Mum and dad won’t allow it if you don’t give your approval’

Muk sighed. She’d always been a sucker for her brother and for a long time, she’d always felt guilty that Tay got the short end of the stick most of the time. It made her want to give up some of her toys when they were young.

‘If you truly love New then I have no wishes to go against it’

Tay and New looked at each other, smiling widely with delight and happiness. Tay reached his hand down under the table, beckoning New for a high five as their plan was one step closer to working.

* * *

‘Mek is really uptight, so you need to keep your calm and don’t crack under his stare’, New warned him as they walked into the restaurant. It was the same fucking restaurant from yesterday and New found it odd that both their siblings chose this specific one.

‘Why’re you wearing a turtle neck?’, Tay asked as he buttoned his suit and made sure his cufflinks were secure, ‘You look stupid’

‘My brother can’t see the hickeys’, New warned him, ‘He’ll cut your balls off’

‘I’m your fiancé’, Tay chuckled as they made their way to their reservation, ‘He can’t stop me’

‘Just behave’, New tugged on his shirt and bent down to growl in his ears, ‘He’s different from your siblings and I’m batshit scared of him’

‘Newwie’, they both coughed and sat apart from each other as they heard Mek calling out his brother’s name. He was older than New by a decade, so it felt more like greeting an Uncle than a subling.

‘How are you?’, New asked, shaking his brother’s hands as if they were on a business meeting. Tay realised that New’s relationship with Mek was more formal than with his siblings – which meant this dinner might be harder than he anticipated.

‘I’m good’, Mek sat down on the chair opposite them, ‘And this must be the man you wanted to introduce’

‘Yes’, New smiled, ‘This is Tay… My…’

‘Fiancé’, Tay finished before New could stutter. They couldn’t afford any awkward moments so he reached his hand out for Mek to shake, but he was meant with silence and a stern look.

‘Fiancé? Since when Newwie?’

‘Since…’, New looked down on the empty table, ‘Since graduation’

‘This man proposed to you during graduation and you didn’t tell us?’

‘I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it. Plus… I had just said yes and I didn’t wanna…’

‘Newwie’, Mek sighed, crossing his arms and looking between him and Tay, ‘Let’s say this man really is your boyfriend, don’t you think you’re a little too young to be getting married?’

‘As far as I know, we’re both adults who can do what they want’, Tay answered for him, which left New feeling slightly shocked at his sudden harsh retaliation. He squeezed Tay’s thighs underneath the table, warning him to calm down.

‘Look, Tay, if you’re my brother’s boyfriend, can’t you wait a couple more years to be sure that the two of you are meant to be? Is that too hard to ask?’

‘Why wait when I can start the rest of my life with New?’

 _Damn._ For someone who’s lying, Tay knew how to smooth out his words.

‘How long have you been together?’

‘Since the beginning of college’, Tay lied and New almost choked on his water. They had only agreed that they’ve been together since third year, but all of a sudden Tay wanted to change the narrative which might cause them trouble.

‘Third year’, New corrected him, interrupting the two before they could start an argument, ‘He meant the beginning of third-year college’

‘So, you’ve technically only been together for a little under two years?’, Mek nodded, ‘Which proves my point. Both of you are still too young to get married’

‘So, what if we’ve only been together for a year?’, Tay questioned him, ‘We’ve known each other since first year. I practically know everything about New’

‘Oh really?’, Mek chuckled, folding his arms. New kicked Tay under the table, wanting him to cut it out before they both tripped up under his brother’s interrogation, ‘When’s New’s birthday?’

‘30th of January 1998’

‘What’s his favourite colour?’

‘Blue’

‘When did he pass his driving test?’

‘Nineteen. He failed twice because he forgot to use his blinker’, Tay remembered New telling them the story during one of their nights out, making everyone laugh.

‘When was his first relationship?’

‘When he was fifteen’

‘What did he want to be when he grew up?’

‘A pilot’

‘And if you’re really his boyfriend, what nickname do you call New?’, Mek asked and Tay thought it was going to be a trick question, so he was confident in replying that he doesn’t have a nickname for New, but when the latter kicked him on the feet, he turned to stare at him, watching New’s nervous eyes glancing at him. That’s when he realised that he probably should make a fucking nickname quick.

‘Uh’, Tay thought for a little while. His mind has gone blank. He never gave a nickname to New before, not even as a joke, ‘Hin’

‘Huh?’, both brothers looked at him with raised eyebrows.

‘I call him… Hin’

‘You call my brother… A rock?’, Mek repeated the word, still not understanding if he heard it correctly.

‘Yeah… I do’, Tay nodded.

‘May I ask why?’

‘Because…’, Tay turned to New for help, but the latter was just as surprised as Mek with the answer, he could only stare back at Tay with an expressionless face. He just had to make it up on the spot, ‘Because… He’s rock hard?’

‘Oh for the love of God’, New closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose as he counted to three in his head before he brought himself back to the reality he put himself into – scamming his own family with a fake marriage with an idiot that was Tay Tawan.


	3. two; faking it.

‘So, Off told me about you and Tay’, Gun said whilst New drove him to college. He hated how he couldn’t say no to Off, even after months of watching him with Gun and even after weeks of planning a stupid scam with Tay. When Off called him for a favour, he knew he didn’t have it in him to say no, which was why he was dropping Gun off to college whilst he was at work.

‘Yeah, and?’, New asked, a hinge of bitterness in his voice that he couldn’t get rid of whenever he spoke to Gun. It really wasn’t the poor boy’s fault, he was nice and everyone could tell he was trying so hard to be closer to New for Off’s sake, but the latter just didn’t give a shit. He was hollow at the thought of Gun, more so at the thought that he did something New could never have done – make Off fall for him. It was a huge testament of how he was always left behind, placed second best like how his parents treated him compared to his older brother. It was annoying as hell.

‘I just… Don’t think it’s a good idea to pretend to get married’, Gun warned him, being genuinely worried for him, ‘Marriage isn’t just a wedding… You and Tay have to live with each other and pretend to play husbands’

‘We know what we’re doing’, New responded, even though it was a downright lie. Of course, they didn’t know what they were doing. A bunch of twenty-something years old rich kids with little to no experience of the real world about to scam their parents so they could continue to leach off them and not work a day in their privileged lives? No, he didn’t know what he was about to get into at all. But he wasn’t about to let Gun know.

‘Off’s worried, and frankly… So am I’

‘You don’t need to’, New faked a smile as he turned towards the college car park, finally sighing in relief that he can kick Gun out of his car, ‘Because it’s none of your business’, New was being rude. Even he knew that and he kinda expected Gun to look defeated, or at the very least upset, but the boy just smiled and nodded in agreement, taking off his seatbelt and thanking him for the ride.

‘I know’, Gun said before he opened the door, ‘I just think you’re a good person and you wouldn’t do this to your own family’

‘Yeah, well, you don’t know anything about me’, New replied, and with that Gun didn’t have anything else to say to him, so he waved and got out of the car, thanking him one more time before shutting the door and walking to campus.

* * *

‘You treating Gun good?’, Arm asked as he set a cup of coffee down on the table. He had on a pink apron and a silly chef’s hat which every waiter had to wear whilst holding a pink rose in their hand whilst serving the customers. New wondered how Arm managed to land a job at a tacky café, but he didn’t wanna poke the poor boy. It seemed like not everyone was getting their dream jobs after graduation.

‘I’m treating him fine’, he stated, leaning back on his chair and looking out the window of the café, waiting for Tay to arrive, but as always, the bastard was late.

‘Off really wants the two of you to get along’, Arm warned him for the umpteenth time, patting New’s arm, ‘Out of all of us, you’re closest to him, so your approval means a lot to him’

‘He doesn’t need my approval to date Gun’, New pointed out, ‘Because if he did, they wouldn’t be dating right now’

‘What’s so wrong with Gun?’, Arm asked him, leaning the empty tray on the former’s table, taking a quick break before his manager looked for him to serve another batch of new customers, ‘I think he’s cute’

Arm had noticed New’s displeasure with Gun’s presence ever since Off introduced him as his boyfriend, but unlike Tay, he didn’t know the real reason for the boy’s harsh attitude. Arm genuinely liked Gun. He was sweet and playful, albeit sometimes loud, but never a boring moment when they spent time together. Plus, it looked like Gun wanted to impress Off’s friends and New was the only one giving him shit. He felt sorry for the poor boy but he was also curious as to why New was treating him that way.

‘Look, he’s just annoying’, New didn’t know what else to say. He knew his reasonings were slightly off because Gun wasn’t that annoying, but he would rather die than admit to one more person that he’d been secretly pining over Off like a mad man for three years straight. It was infuriatingly embarrassing on his part.

‘Sorry I’m late!’, before Arm could ask any more questions, the door swung open, presenting Tay with a goofy grin and a tailored suit which looked too formal for a casual meet up with his friends.

‘Here’s your lovely fiancé’, Arm rolled his eyes and chuckled to himself for a bit before walking back to the kitchen to serve more coffee. Their friends were already well aware of their stupid plans and have drilled it in their minds that it was going to backfire on their asses sooner or later, but Tay was too caught up in his head to listen to them and New thought it was too late to back out anyway, so here they were, rounding up their last few relatives in announcing their engagement. New had already heard the buzz of their news around people’s mouths, slipping out of their lips as honey as they passed it around from one dinner event to the next until the whole upper class knew of their engagement. It was slowly being set in stone and it became more of a deal than they’d anticipated. Two of the biggest companies in Thailand joining together in matrimony? Sounded like it came straight from a movie – a tacky, rom-com movie with no substance.

‘How was the gramps?’, New asked, sliding his unfinished coffee to where Tay was sitting. The boy didn’t even look down on the drink, they both always ordered the same thing anyway.

‘They were happy’, Tay beamed as he sipped the coffee, ‘They offered to pay for our honeymoon’

‘Ooh, I totally forgot about that’, New smiled, ‘I wonder where they’re sending us’

‘I told them the Bahamas would be good, but they might send us to Paris, the city of romance and all’, the pair of friends, or lovers? Whatever they were, they were having fun, discussing a wedding that was close to becoming a reality and their friend, who was still serving other customers, heard bits and pieces of their conversation and couldn’t help but roll his eyes. New and Tay were different from them – they were both stupid – but more so, they lived as if the world was going to be complacent to their plan, but in the real world, they knew it wasn’t going to happen. So, they could only sit and wait until the first asteroid of problems will hit them.

And it did. Pretty quickly.

* * *

They were drunk. As excuses go, this was genuinely a valid one for New who typically wasn’t a drinker. The dinner event finally included both his parents and Tay – and son of a bitch it was awkward as fuck.

‘So, how did you fall in love with my son?’, his father asked Tay. They’d gone over the basics of their stories, but he knew why his father asked that question. It was about gentility. He wanted to feel that Tay truly loved him and confessed his feelings in front of everyone at the dinner table. He just hoped Tay was a good actor because his dad could usually smell out a rat.

‘I mean, he’s my best friend sir’, Tay began, a confident smile on his face, ‘It’s privileged to fall in love with someone you already trust and know’, sweet, short and crisp. That was what they planned, that was what they wrote down together as they memorised their words one by one before the dinner started.

But truly, alcohol brought nothing but trouble.

‘And how about New?’, Tay’s mother asked him, a smile on her face when she saw her son reach out for New’s hands, ‘When did you fall for my boy?’

New wasn’t an actor. He knew that. And he couldn’t bring it in himself to lie about Tay. Because he didn’t love Tay and he was scared his parents were going to sniff him out. He swallowed his saliva, his eyes quivered for a moment as he turned to stare at Tay, watching his calm expression but questioning eyes as he summoned him to start talking.

He closed his eyes for a moment and slipped into a different reality. Suddenly, when he opened them, he saw someone else sitting next to him, someone who was tall and lean, pale face and a warm smile on his face. Suddenly, he imagined Off being the one he introduced to his parents then all of a sudden, all the butterflies in his stomach escaped all in one go, fluttering inside until he felt sick.

‘I’ve loved him since the first time I met him’, New said, and Tay didn’t think much of it – it was close enough to the rough script they've prepared a minute ago, ‘But he never liked me like that’

‘Huh?’

‘For once, I just wanted him to say he liked me too’, New pouted a little, looking down at his wine glass, seeing the red inside, ‘I begged for him to like me back’

‘Uh…’, Tay coughed nervously, smiling to their parents as he turned to look at New, ‘We… I mean… Yeah of course, I was scared to start a relationship with a friend. It’s hard, right?’, he tried to lower down the sudden rise of questioning looks coming from the adults as New blew out air and carried on drinking.

‘Why did it take you so long?’, New whined, ‘You could’ve said you liked me back ages ago’, Tay realised New’s too drunk to know what he was talking about, so he reached his hand out and grabbed the glass out of his hands, patting his back as he whispered in his ears, out of everyone else’s sight, whispering for New to shut up.

‘Hmm’, New’s mum looked at her own son, watching him whine a little, leaning his head on Tay’s shoulders and for a moment her heart ached for him. She felt guilty at believing in Mek’s assumptions of her youngest son faking a relationship. Her son has always been a big softie, and this story alone was enough for her to believe that maybe New’s been waiting for this moment.

She reached out for her husband’s hands under the table, squeezing it tight as they looked at each other, an unspoken agreement between the two.

‘I guess… This should be a joyous celebration’, she finally announced, ‘My son is getting married’

* * *

‘It actually worked?’, Off asked as Tay walked into their apartment in the middle of the night smelling of wine and flowers. He loosened his tie as he leaned his back on the kitchen chair, sighing in relief after escaping the horrendous dinner that could’ve gone south if New didn’t shut up.

‘The wedding’s happening in three months’

‘Three fucking months to plan a wedding?’, Off’s eyes widened as he poured tap water in a spare glass, sliding it across the table till it reached Tay. He’d been anticipating on whether to get in between his two friends and their awful idea, but it seemed as though it was too late for him to intervene and he was worried as hell – especially for New. Tay would get himself into this type of bullshit, but New? The boy was too innocent.

‘My parents also booked a venue that they own. It’s a historical temple a little outside the city’, Tay explained, gulping his water down until it was finished, ‘New’s family’s going to be in charge of food and decorations’

‘Don’t you think this is a bit too much?’, Off asked him, sitting down to face his best friend, ‘Have you ever spoken to New about how long you’ll be married to each other?’

‘One year’, Tay smiled at him. After Gun mentioned to New the idea of keeping up the front after the wedding, New made sure to mention it, ‘One year is enough to fool them’

‘One year?’, Off looked down on his hands, twisting his rings around, ‘Are you sure you could pretend to be New’s husband for a year?’

‘We’re friends’, Tay explained, ‘I’m sure we’ll just need to hold hands every time we go out, but we don’t need to do more than that’

‘You clearly don’t know what happens at weddings’, Off laughed a little, standing up and making his way out of the kitchen. He didn’t want to waste he breathe anymore, not if Tay wasn’t willing to listen to him, ‘Good like kissing the groom’, is the last thing he said as he retired to his own room, shutting the room and leaving Tay to wonder what he meant by that.

* * *

‘We can’t look uncomfortable when we kiss’, Tay exclaimed when New opened the door, welcoming in the tall boy with a loud voice.

‘What’re you talking about?’, New whined, scratching his hair as he yawned. It was too early in the morning to listen to whatever Tay had to say.

‘We have to kiss at the wedding’, Tay explained, frantic in his actions as he walked into the living room, plopping down on the sofa, ‘We can’t act squirmish when we kiss’

‘We won’t’, New looked at him with disgust, ‘Are you trying to say I can’t kiss?’

‘How do I know if I haven’t kissed you?’

New immediately realised what Tay was implying and he covered his neck out of instinct, ‘We’re not kissing’, he announced, taking a step back.

‘Come on, we gotta practice’

‘Your hickeys took all week to disappear!’, New shouted at him, taking another step back when Tay stood up and started to make his way towards him, ‘It was embarrassing!’

‘Come on, I’m not gonna leave any hickeys on your lips’, Tay rolled his eyes and waked to New. The two played push and pull, always taking a step back whenever the latter stepped forward, but too bad New had no more space to go back to.

With his back pressed against the wall, he pushed Tay away in an attempt to escape, but the boy was too strong for him, pressing his hands on the wall, caging him between his arms.

‘Let’s just see if we need to worry about it or not’, Tay suggested.

‘Tay, I just woke up’, New whined a little, his hands rested on Tay’s chest, too tired to push him off, ‘I have morning breath’

‘Just one kiss’, Tay whispered again, this time leaning in until there was an inch of air that separated them.

New thought Tay was going to be mad at him for almost fucking up dinner, but he was weird instead, begging for a kiss when they had other things to discuss, like a fucking wedding ceremony.

‘We gotta look realistic, we’ve gone too far now’, Tay reminded him once more, and it brought New’s guard down, lowering his hands and allowing Tay to almost lean on his chest with how close they both are now.

Tay the idiot had a point. Who would think they were madly in love if they couldn’t even kiss without gagging?

‘God, this is so stupid’, New whispered before he leaned in, tugging on Tay’s shirt tightly as he violently pulled Tay in, pressing their lips together. It felt awkward, fucking awkward as they both stared at each other, cross-eyed as they waited for someone to start moving.

New didn’t feel anything but chapped lips harshly pressed against his and he noted to tell off Tay to moisturise his lips if they had to keep kissing in front of their friends and family because dried lips felt disgusting.

Tay was surprised that New was the one to kiss first, but when the latter parted his lips, he couldn’t help but slide in his tongue, playfully pushing New’s buttons to see how far he was willing to go for him.

But New wasn’t one to hold back down either. So, he pulled Tay closer – if that was possible – wrapping his arms around the latter’s neck and caging him to his embrace, kissing him harshly, as if they were fighting. He could hear Tay chuckle whenever they broke apart, a few seconds of his smug laughter as they continued making out, tongues slipping through parted lips, Tay’s fingers combing back his hair.

‘Woah, am I interrupting something?’

New immediately pushed Tay off him when they heard a foreign voice entering the room and he was shocked when he saw his brother’s girlfriend walking in his apartment.

‘Does everyone have the keys to my damn apartment?’, New complained, slightly breathless from his previous actions.

Mild laughed a little as she watched New straighten his shirt, pushing Tay away from him, but their swollen lips and flustered expression was enough for her to put the two and two together. She had heard from her boyfriend that his little brother’s fiancé was suspiciously random in terms of New’s type, so he sent her there to investigate, but by the looks of it, she didn’t need to.

‘Your brother gave me the spare keys. He just wanted me to visit’

‘What for?’

‘Just to check up on you. Your parents told us you got drunk last night’, she laughed a little, setting down her back on the coffee table.

‘Yeah, he was slightly nervous’, Tay answered on New’s behalf, reaching his hand out to shake Mild’s, ‘I’m Tay, New’s fiancé’

‘I’m Mild’, she said, shaking it, ‘Mek’s girlfriend’

‘Guess, we’re practically in-laws, right?’, Tay winked, making Mild laugh but he also made New cringe at his attempt of friendliness.

‘Anyway, if you need any help with the wedding, I’d be happy to help’

‘Uh… Sure’, New nodded, still a little flustered that Mild had seen them making out. He still had the taste of Tay hanging from his lips and he tried to get rid of the buzzing feeling he still felt, walking to the kitchen to offer Mild a drink.

‘Mek’s a little disconnected, but he’s very happy for you’, Mild pointed out, ‘He just doesn’t know how to express himself’

‘You can say that again’, New whispered to himself as he passed on a glass of drink to Mild. He wasn’t too close to his brother’s girlfriend, but she was nice and friendly, so whenever they do meet, New felt comfortable around her.

‘Oh, and by the way, Mek’s willing to give you an internship in the company after your honeymoon if you’re interested’

‘Internship?’, Tay snickered to himself as he sat on one of the tables, trying hard not to make fun out of New who pinched his back as a warning.

‘Maybe’, New replied, although he still felt bitter at the fact that his position in the family company was given to Mild and he was stuck with a stupid internship. He wasn’t going to stoop low and accept his brother’s offer, his ego was too big to do so, ‘But Tay and I are planning to start a business together’

‘We are?’, Tay asked, chocking on his own spit as his eyes turned round and wide, ‘Are we?’

‘Yes, we are’, New called out smugly, even though he just made that lie up on the spot – but he’s been lying about everything till now – so he might as well add something else into the mix. He realised that once he started, he just couldn’t stop lying, so now, New and Tay were no longer just engaged, but their business partners to add onto it.


	4. three; homemade business

**Chapter Three; Homemade Business**

‘Arm, how would you like to work for our non-existent company?’, Tay asked when his best friend sat down on his sofa after a late night work at his second job at the bar.

‘Cool, sign me the fuck up’, Arm immediately gave in much to Tay’s surprise since his company hadn’t been set up yet nor did he know what it was going to be yet, but little to his rich boy knowledge, Arm was getting sick and tired of working in bars and café when he had a Costume Design degree that he could be fucking using, so whatever Tay was gonna pull under his sleeves, he’d rather be dragged in then have to spend another minute making people coffee.

‘I supposed we’ll have to think of what type of business we’re going to be’, Tay whispered to himself, clicking his tongue and opening his phone to check his notes. He made a list whilst he was having lunch with his mum about all the possible business.

‘You wouldn’t wanna work in a condom business’, Tay muttered, making Arm turn to look at him with a mixture of disgust and confusion in his face.

‘Why was that at the top of your fucking list?’

‘Think about it’, Tay poked his arm, his eyes lit up mischievously, ‘What do you think about glow in the dar condoms? And you can design the packaging?’

‘I majored in designing costumes, not condoms’, Arm hit him on the back of the head, turning back to focus on the TV as he turned on Netflix, ‘What else have you got on your list’

Tay looked down on his phone again, reading the title _Business Ideas_ under his notes, ‘Maybe a clothing line’, he mumbled, not really liking the idea since it was New’s not his. He was still pissed that he told his brother’s girlfriend that they were starting a business together when in actuality he wanted the business for himself. Being married for a couple of months doesn’t mean he as going to allow New anywhere near his company – which doesn’t exist yet – but he knows will be big one day.

‘Where’s New by the way?’

* * *

Yes, he’d told everyone including himself that he was over Off a long time ago, and he nearly was, but when Off offered to have lunch with him during work, of course, he wasn’t going to say no. They were best friends at the end of the day anyway.

What he didn’t expect was for the short kid to tag along.

‘Don’t you have seminars this afternoon?’, he asked who sat right beside Off, stuffing his mouth with food whilst they wait for Off to come back with their drinks.

‘I have a two hour gap between my seminars’, Gun explained, smiling fondly at New. It seemed like either the kid was good at acting or he genuinely didn’t know New’s distaste towards him, because he seemed to really like hanging out with him, ‘Off said he was having lunch with you and I asked if I could join’

‘Ah’, New nodded. He was slightly relieved his best friend didn’t ask him to third wheel his date and it was rather his clingy boyfriend asking to tag along. But then it only made him hate Gun a little more for inviting himself.

‘Here you go babe’, Off finally arrived, diffusing New’s growing expression of annoyance as he sat in the middle, passing Gun his drink, ‘So, New, how’s the wedding holding up?’

‘Going great’, New nodded, ‘I accidentally told my family I’m setting up a new company with Tay so now he hates me’

‘I thought the company was supposed to be for Tay only?’

‘Yeah, it was’, New sighed, combing his hair back, ‘But I didn’t want to intern for my brother, so for better or for worse, we’re business partners now too’

‘Wow’, Gun commented, listening to their conversation, ‘How’re you gonna divorce each other then?’

‘Well, we could always pretend to say it didn’t work and we decided to be friends’

‘Tay’s going to be your husband, not boyfriend. Don’t you think the stakes will be slightly higher to give out that sad excuse?’, Off snickered at him, rolling his eyes and eating his food. He knew his friends were going to go through some bullshit. They had no brain cells and put together, they were a walking bomb of tomfoolery.

‘Look, I promised Tay that I would work for the company, but I won’t own it, so when we do divorce, he’ll have the company to himself’, New explained their settlement after arguing with Tay for the whole night.

‘But that’s not fair’, Gun pointed out, seemingly adding himself to the conversation even though New didn’t invite him in, ‘If you’re gonna be working for the company, you’ll be building it from the ground up, so don’t you deserve to put your name on it?’

‘Ground up my ass’, Off snorted, turning to look at Gun and ruffling his hair, ‘Have you seen their family? They’d each get eighty million each to start up their own company, they’ll be fine’

New rolled his eyes and he began to eat his meal, wondering how Gun was able to make Off do things he used to hate doing. Jealousy was a lousy bitch who wouldn’t leave him, but he still couldn’t help but feel it. But then again, he and Off had gone way back since the first year of college, so an idea leapt out of his mind, making him smile as he turned to Off.

‘Actually, now that we’re talking about the company’, New began, a new jolt of excitement coursing through him, ‘Once we set it up, why don’t you work for us? I’ll give you a high position’

‘Thanks, but no thanks’, Off replied, ‘I’m inexperience and a recent graduate. If you wanna take your company seriously, hire someone who’s been in the business for long. Plus, I don’t like the idea of things being handed to me, so I’d rather work from the ground up’

‘Come on Off’, New elbowed his arm, ‘Think about it. Do you actually get both Tay or I could hold a company together? You’re not gonna let us crash and burn along with a million dollar company, right? Right?’

‘Working with friends is better than interning, right?’, Gun nodded, taking it in consideration and turning to look at his boyfriend, ‘If you’re given an opportunity, shouldn’t you take it? I think their company might actually be the next big thing’

‘I’ll think about it’, Off murmured, although he was still closed off at the idea, not wanting to be dragged into his rich friends’ bullshit, but then again, his recent pay on his work was almost comical for someone who got first honours at one of the best universities in the country. He’d always been told to work hard for everything, but if his rich friends could get a free pass to the front of the line, what was the problem if he tugged onto them and followed them as well?

* * *

‘Hey, I heard you met up with Off’, it was the first thing Tay said the moment New arrived back to his apartment. It was a stupid idea to give him the spare keys to his apartment, but then again, since everyone else had one, he might as well give one to Tay to make it look ‘believable’. God, he was starting to hate how dedicated they were both starting to get about this whole relationship.

‘Yeah, what about it?’

‘You do realise our parents are probably spying on us’, Tay shouted from the living room as he made his way to the kitchen, fetching himself a drink and something to eat, ‘I don’t wanna get a phone call from my mum asking what my fiancé was doing with some other man!’

‘Gun was there with us’, New shouted back, not knowing why he suddenly had to defend himself when he always hung around with Off, ‘I don’t think you need to worry about anything’

‘Oh, so you were third wheeling?’, Tay scoffed, standing from the sofa and making his way to the kitchen to see New microwaving some left overs, ‘Why didn’t you tell me? I would’ve come’

‘I don’t need you as a distraction. I’m totally over Off’, New replied, rolling his eyes when he knew Tay was only saying that just to tease him. He hated that Tay was the only one out of their group to realise New’s feelings. He thought things might be different if it was Arm comforting him about his unrequited love rather than this bastard, ‘Have you spoken to Arm?’, he changed the subject, not wanting to be the subject of ridicule for Tay, opening toe microwave and pulling out the leftover takeaway he saved for himself, digging in as he walked passed the former, heading to the living room.

‘Yeah, he said yes straight away’, Tay chuckled, ‘He’s really desperate for a proper job’

‘Good’, New replied, plopping down on the sofa and turning on the TV, ‘Do you have any idea what type of company We should set up’

‘Not a fucking clue, but since Arm’s on board, it’s gotta be something creative otherwise he’d kill me’

‘Why?’

‘Because I told him I’d make him an Art Director’, Tay replied, earning a raised brow from New.

‘And what exactly can we make out of that?’, New snorted. They haven’t even finalised on an idea but it was slowly going to shit.

‘I was thinking condo-’

‘Don’t even try finishing that sentence’, New grabbed a pillow, hitting Tay with it as the latter sat beside him on the sofa.

‘Then what else are we going to produce that consumers need?’

‘Well, for what it’s worth, everyone wants to be entertained’, New commented, remembering the play they saw together that Arm was apart of. It was the first time he was at awe of something, the mixture of the acting and the stage design as well as costume and lighting. The team effort made the entire play a masterpiece that he thought about for weeks. He wondered, with the talents of all their friends, they might be able to create something similar, a masterpiece that isn’t just a company to reel in money so they didn’t have to work like the rest of them. They were young, dumb but highly imaginative and with Arm and maybe Off on board, they could create something truly special.

‘How about an entertainment company?’, New suggested.

‘Don’t you think this country has enough of that?’, Tay scoffed at his idea, grabbing the remote from his hands and flicking through the channels.

‘But it won’t be film or music’, New kept going despite Tay’s lack of interest, ‘I would be for performance. For dancers, theatre actors and musical singers. Think about it, theatre are targeted for the rich middle class, but what if we create an entertainment company that produces affordable live performances. We can hire unknown playwrights, creating new stories instead of remakes of old ones. I think a lot of people are getting sick of watching the same old stories. Don’t you think we might be able to give them something more?’

‘Woah, you’re getting more into this than I am’, Tay raised a questioning brow, ‘You do know we’re only dong this for money, right?’

‘Shut up, you capitalist’, New shoved another pillow at him, ‘You always kill the mood’, he stopped talking, giving up since Tay never took him seriously, deciding to just focus his attention on the TV screen.

But Tay couldn’t help but look at him. This was the first time he ever saw passion in his eyes and he was intrigued, albeit confused at the sudden rush of motivation coursing through New’s veins. The idea of going down the creative route when both their families focused on finance and practically was something new and they both like fishes out of water. But they never really fitted in with the rest of their families anyway, so going down this route was more than perfect for them.

And a small part of Tay wanted to see the sparkle in his eyes again when he talked about it. He didn’t wanna admit it, but New was fascinatingly attractive when he spoke with passion.

* * *

‘You wanna set up an entertainment company?’, Mek chuckled when he joined his brother for dinner. They had a lot of catching up to do and a wedding to plan, so they were seeing more of each other than they’d had in the past year, ‘You’re choosing the most unstable product to produce as your first company? Seems rather risky’

‘Unstable?’, New furrowed his brow, looking at his older brother, ‘How so?’

‘You see, talents and people are different. They change their mind, they move to different companies or they lose their skills over the coming years. With mechanics, nothing changes. We produce the same thing and we only improve with every knew worker coming in. It’s very rare for us to lose shareholder’s interests and our products are easy to reach consumer’s expectations. Whereas people get entertained differently, some like jazz whilst others like rock. I don’t think you can cater for the entire population who’s split into thinking jazz is better than rock and vice versa’

‘Call me a romantic, but I don’t wanna produce to leech money off people’, New defended himself when he saw his brother’s amused expression, something that he knew indicated that he didn’t take him seriously which pissed him off, ‘There’s something special about the stage that I want more people to witness’

‘Newwie’, Mek sighed, listening to his brother’s argument, albeit cute, seemed highly stupid from a business prospective, ‘It’s not just about the consumers. It’s about your employees, your shareholders, partnerships, endorsements and deals. What makes you think you’re going to have an abundance? Plus, since it’s an entertainment company, you have to find unique talents, one which could grab the audience and hook them in. Films, plays and music are highly expensive to produce and there’s a fifty fifty percent chance it might not even be successful. That is a very bad business deal right there’

‘P’Mek, I really wanna do this’, New sighed, feeling deterred by his brother’s words, looking down at his untouched meal, ‘And I think I have the skill to make it work. Why can’t you just support me?’

‘You’re young New’, Mek replied, ‘You’re getting married in three months, you’re setting up a company and you’re trying to start a life that is so different from who you are, don’t you think I’m only saying these things because I’m worried about you?’

‘Since when are you ever worried about me?’, New scoffed when his brother tried to turn things around, making himself sound like a concerned brother but in reality he just didn’t like the idea of New finding his own path in life, ‘You’re only annoyed that I can finally do something I want to do and you’re scared I’d be more successful than you’

‘New, that’s not what I-’

‘You know what, forget it’, New stood up, throwing his napkin on the table and glaring at his older brother, ‘I don’t know what I was thinking trying to seek approval from you. From now on, I’m gonna do whatever I want without thinking about you’ and with that, he left the restaurant on an empty stomach, taking a taxi to the nearest Chinese restaurant to order takeaway, eating it outside the park as he watched people walking past him.

* * *

It was a Friday night and the streets were loud, the smell of smoke and alcohol in the air as he sat down on one of the benches, watching a street party happening as he ate his dinner. It was dark, only the street lamps lighting up the path ahead of him as he watched the crowd grew in front of him.

He didn’t want to go home just yet and the thought of eating outside seemed more relaxing than being cooped up alone in his apartment.

‘What a surprise, I’d find you in the most obvious place you’d be hiding’, he turned to see Tay walking towards him.

‘What the hell are you doing here?’, New whined as soon as he heard his stupid ass voice.

‘You think my future mother in law didn’t call me to check up on you?’, Tay pointed at his phone before sliding it down his pockets, ‘Your older brother told her that you stormed our during dinner. She told me to go take care of you’

‘Just because we have to pretend to be married doesn’t mean if we have act like it’, New pointed out, staring at the way Tay just sat close beside him on the park bench, stretching his arm and resting it on his shoulder nonchalantly.

‘We’ve got three months before the wedding’, Tay reminded him, ‘And that’s three months of both our families spying on us to see if we aren’t compatible. I suggest we don’t give them any excuse to cancel the wedding’

‘You’re so desperate for this’

‘Hey, you were the one who came with it first’, Tay defended himself, dragging New back into the equation, ‘You’re the one who’s desperate’

‘God, maybe I am’,New bit his lip, a shade of cheek pasted on his cheeks at the sudden realisation of what they actually put themselves into. He suddenly wondered how Off truly saw him and if his close friend suddenly thought low of him.

‘Maybe we should call this whole thing off’, New started to go back on their plans once the doubt was planting in his head, ‘I guess my brother’s right. I should just intern at his company and stop dreaming too big’

‘Really? You’re really gonna back out now?’, Tay turned to glare at him, ‘Because I’m not gonna let you. I’m getting my parents’ savings by hook or by crook’

‘Why don’t you just ask for it?’, New furrowed his brow and stared at Tay, picking at his food and putting it in his mouth, speaking with his mouthful, ‘We’re stupid into tricking our own families anyway. So what if we get the shit end of the stick? At least they’re not leaving us with absolutely nothing’

‘Come on New. We started this ting together, we much as well finish it together’, Tay whined when he realised that New was joking and he was genuinely thinking of backing out. He rested his head on his shoulders, eyes wide and round as he pouted his lower lip, ‘Come on Hin, don’t be like that’

‘Stop calling me that’, New flicked his forehead, trying to push him off, but Tay just chuckled, sitting up again as he leaned his arm on his shoulders instead.

‘I know you’ve had a bad day, but think of it this way. Once you’re married, you’ll finally be free from your brother’s shadows. Isn’t that a good thing?’

‘God, you wanna be married to me so bad, don’t you?’, New rolled his eyes, chuckling at the way Tay kept on begging him. Albeit their situation, he kinda liked the fact that he was needed, even if it’s Tay fucking Tawan who needed him.

‘Fuck’, Tay whispered as soon as he turned around, spotting something suspicious moving inside one of the bushes.

‘What?’, New tried to turn around but he was stopped by Tay’s hands holding his.

‘Don’t look, but I think someone’s spying on us’

‘Are you serious?’, New asked with wide eyes, trying hard not to turn around but feeling curious at the same time.

‘Do you think a red light inside a bush is natural?’, Tay chuckled, rolling his eyes when he slyly turned to look in the direction, seeing the small red light hidden by the leaves, ‘God, I guess they’re already starting’

‘Fucking hell. Who’s family do you think it is? Yours or mine?’

‘Could be both’, Tay answered truthfully, ‘My dad is still slightly sceptical so it could be him’

‘Oh for fuck’s sake’, he didn’t knew why he was pissed. The truth of it, their families had all the reasons to be suspicious over a sudden wedding and to be honest, their suspicious are right. But New would rather jump off a cliff than admit to that in front of his parents. So, instead, he set his food down on the bench, closing his eyes as he pulled Tay’s collar, bringing him into a sudden kiss which shocked the latter who stared wide eyed at him as soon as their lips touched.

It’s not like they haven’t kissed before, and Christ, New’s mouth tasted of sweet and sour sauce, it made Tay want to pull away. But for some reason, he didn’t. He let New lick his lips, asking him to part his lips, and dipping his tongue inside.

 _It’s all for the cameras._ And Tay was good at hogging attention, so he decided to have fun, resting his hand on New’s waist as he leaned in closer, kissing New until he felt the latter shudder in his touch, the pair breathless yet still fighting as if they’ve got something to prove.

_‘Ah’_

The moan came out of nowhere and it forced New to break off from the kiss, pushing Tay away as he shyly looked down on his lap, hiding his reddening cheeks. He could already hear Tay chuckling under his breath, making him want to punch him, but he didn’t know if the cameras were still on them.

‘I didn’t know it would be that easy to make you moan’, Tay teased him, with a smug look on his face.

‘I will skin you alive in your sleep, just you wait’, New growled at him as he stood up, taking his leftover food and throwing it in the trash beside the bench, walking away from Tay who kept called out his name.

‘Hin! Wait up!’

‘Go away!’, New shouted, quickening his pace, but it was futile. He felt Tay’s arm leaning on his shoulders as he rushed to him, playfully leaning in and licking a stripe down his neck, ‘Ew!’, he whined, pushing him away, ‘What was that for?’

‘Come on’, Tay laughed, ‘Let me hear you moan again’

‘You disgusting pig’

‘Just one more time!’

‘No!’, New shouted, the pair bickering all the way back to his apartment, arguing like a bunch of kids, but one thing changed for sure. New didn’t realise Tay was such a good kisser and he didn’t know why he was thinking about kissing him again.


End file.
